Williams told the police officers that he was going to meet someone named Cheryl Johnson and was out late at night since he wanted to ensure that he wouldnt be late for the early morning appointment. I was born in 1978, so I was very young when all this was happening. They radioed teams above, who immediately stopped a light-colored station wagon making its way across the bridge toward the highway entrance. The documentary will dive deeper into the racial divisions of the case. "Nothing has eased the pain," saidVenus Taylorduring the documentary. Several men have accused Williams of trying to molest them when they were younger. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. [20][21] The announcement was welcomed by relatives of some victims, who said they believe the wrong man was blamed for many of the murders. The series kicks off with Bottoms announcing the citys effort to re-examine evidence. Co-workers told police they had seen Williams with scratches on his face and arms around the time of the murders which, investigators surmised, could have been inflicted by victims during struggles. In 2019, Williams was featured in season 2 of the Netflix series Mindhunter alongside others such as Charles Manson and David Berkowitz;[41] Williams's character was portrayed by Christopher Livingston.[42]. Listing agent Cyril Matz of Douglas Elliman said this waterfront home was sold in 2023 for $22.583 million, earning him almost a $6 million gain. Sign up for notifications from Insider! The FBI had titled the case ATKID, Atlanta Child Murders. Wayne Williams was a patsy used by officials who were more concerned about the citys reputation and closing the book on this horrific chapter than in finding the real killer. He is not identified until the final minutes of the penultimate episode, but careful viewers might have noticed Williams made an appearance earlier on the season. However, both the phone number he gave police and Cheryl Johnson turned out to be fictitious. Wayne Williams was a monster who killed at least 28 children, adolescents and adults in their 20s in Atlanta from July 1979 to May 1981. All our parents wanted to know where we were and to not talk to strangers. That was their way out. My hope is that the families experience some solace as these cases get the renewed national attention they deserve. Over the decades, Williams has been steadfast in his denial that he was involved in the kid killings and the prosecutors never officially indicted him on those charges. Atlanta producerWill Packer-behind hit movies such as"Ride Along" and"Girls Trip" - is the executive producer who created the documentary and Bottoms called him out by name at a press conference. Autumn. Douglas wrote that Williams likely used the killing to assert control and give his life notability, success. Two days later, a certain Nathaniel Carters body was discovered near the bridge, putting Williams on the polices radar. In April: Larry Rogers (20), Michael McIntosh (23), John Harold Porter (28), and Jimmy Ray Payne (21). Joshua St Clair is an Assistant Editor at Men's Health Magazine. The film also introduces and fleshes out theories the killings could have been carried out by a bad actor who died in prison, or by a well-known racist who formed his own hate group because he thought the KKK wasnt radical enough. Eventually, a cop wannabe named Wayne Williams is arrested and is put on trial in February of 1982. The series does not mention the results of independent DNA tests in 2007 and 2010, both supporting Williams conviction, although not conclusively so. The killings continued. John Legend is one of those interested in the case. (Glass' body was never recovered.). The scene ends quickly, and no added attention is given to Williams at the time, but viewers who were already familiar with the Atlanta Child Murders and Wayne Williams likely recognized the convicted man before any of the characters on "Mindhunter" did. This documentary could enlighten a lot of curious people, he said. Here's what to know about Wayne Williams and the Atlanta Child Murders. Cater was then the 29th body the bureau and local police had found over the last 2 years. . Wayne Williams was arrested when fibers from his carpet, home and dog appeared to match those found on some of the victims. All were later found dead. Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. A special task force is created. The producers of the Atlanta Monster podcast allowed the garrulous Williams to run away with several episodes of their show, but that mistake served the purpose of making his narcissism and dishonesty impossible to ignore. But I do think history will judge us by our actions, and we will be able to say we tried. The case was once again closed on July 21, 2006. Monica Kaufman-Pearson, a beloved longtime Atlanta news anchor interviewed for both the podcast and Atlantas Missing and Murdered, may be right when she tells the camera: This is one of those mysteries that will remain a mystery because we blew it from the beginning. The 61-year-old Williams says in the documentary that he never killed anyone. Then, in 1981, Atlanta police arrested 23-year-old Wayne Williams, a freelance news photographer and self-styled music promoter, for the murder of Nathaniel Cater, 27. (25 points) 5. In 2000, Showtime released a drama film titled Who Killed Atlanta's Children? Then, the first female victim: Angel Lanier (12), found strangled on March 10, 1980. Their stories deserve to be told.. [7] Williams held a press conference outside his home to proclaim his innocence, volunteering that he had failed the polygraph tests, which would have been inadmissible in court. But there was only enough evidence to charge him with the murders of Nathaniel Cater, 27, and Jimmy Ray Payne, 21. 2023 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (The first two episodes are now available, and the remaining three will air on consecutive Sundays.) TV Talk blog, Atlanta MayorKeisha Lance Bottoms announced that multiple crime agencies will use modern technology to re-test evidence from the four-decade old murdered and missing children case just two days before ID debuts the documentary "The Atlanta Child Murders.". For HBO: supervising producer, Sara Rodriguez; executive producers, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller. Photograph by the East Hampton Star/Courtesy HBO. His lawyers have said the conviction was a "profound miscarriage of justice" that has kept an innocent man incarcerated for the majority of his adult life and allowed the real killers to go free. Celebrities who were kids at that time talked about their own experiences including producerJermaine Dupri and rapperBig Boi. The GM and coach seem to be more cohesive than Ryan Pace was with Matt Nagy and John Fox. I really want them to find out who did it, said Terrell, whose 12-year-old brother, Earl, was one of the 29 abducted and killed between 1979 and 1981. However, the HBO documentary series main focus is on the re-opening of the case by Atlantas mayor, Keisha Lance Bottom. The tactic proved effective and Williams became combative, at one point calling prosecutor Jack Mallard a fool., On February 27, 1982, Williams was found guilty of the murders of Nathaniel Cater (27) and Jimmy Ray Payne (21) and given two consecutive life sentences. The HBO series presents one of the strongest alternative scenariosthat a local man with a record of sexual assaults raped and killed one victim, Clifford Jonesa story dismissed by the police because the eyewitness who claimed to have observed the crime was intellectually disabled. Packer said the crime spree resonates today becauseblack and brown children in general still go missing and dont get national coverage, he said. All rights reserved. Mounting political pressure leads to the arrest of 23-year-old Wayne Williams in connection to two murders of men in their 20s. There was a belief it was a serial killer or killers and generated widespread fear among families in the city of Atlanta. View Wayne Williams Documentary Questions.docx from SCIENCE 401 at Pebblebrook High School. Having no legal justification to hold Williams, the agents let him go. This line of investigation does not appear to have ever been sufficiently pursued. He constructed his own carrier current radio station and began frequenting stations WIGO and WAOK, where he befriended a number of the announcing crew and began dabbling in becoming a pop music producer and manager. Beginning in the summer of 1979, a series of horrific, unsolved child murders terrorize black families across Atlanta. FBI agents Mike McComas and Jim Procopio recall finding a surprising piece of potential evidence. Cem Kurosman, a publicist at Blue Note Records, which released Shorter's recent recordings, confirmed his death . Most of the law enforcement and government officials, of course, are certain they got the right guy in Williams. "[13] In early 2004, Williams sought a retrial again, with his attorneys arguing that law enforcement officials covered up evidence of involvement by the Ku Klux Klan, and that carpet fibers purportedly linking him to the crimes would not stand up to scientific scrutiny. After watching the 2020 version of this, I decided to watch this version to get the full story.. By what name was The Atlanta Child Murders (2019) officially released in India in English? Though no fingerprints or murder weapons were presented as evidence, prosecutors pointed to 19 sources of fibers and hairs that matched those on the victims. Further, it details the rush to officially shut down the case and the continuing deluge of questions that remain unanswered, including how the victims family members along with many others in the Atlanta community remain skeptical of Williams guilt. A 1991 appeal based on the argument that this investigation should have been revealed to Williams defense team, exhaustively documented in Atlantas Missing and Murdered, failed. The vastly different views about the now 61-year . Netflix's "Mindhunter" dove back into the life of serial killer Wayne Williams, who was only convicted of killing two men in Atlanta, Georgia, but whom many believe to be responsible for at least 23 murders during the period of 1979 to 1981. In the mid-2000s, Williams defense team learned that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was secretly surveilling a family allegedly associated with the Ku Klux Klan and had recorded one of its members, Charles T. Sanders, praising the killings. But as we started to dig into the research, educate people and connect the dots. Psychics are brought in. In Ford's opinion, this is further evidence that Williams must be responsible for the serial killing of children in the Atlanta area, since the FBI's research is beginning to show that compulsive killers will return to the locations where they took a person's life. Shes not alone. [4][5] The first automobile to exit the bridge after the splash, at roughly 2:50 a.m., belonged to Williams. He is the only child to humble and respectable parents. [28] An anonymous alleged former friend of Sanders told documentarian Payne Lindsey (Atlanta Monster) that Sanders had taken credit for the murders mentioned in a 1986 Spin article,[29] claiming that his brothers were also involved. whose body was found tied to tree March 4, 1980. He will next be eligible for parole in November 2027. MO/Similarities. It became national news. Rather, it's alleged predation like that ofR. Kelly or mass murderers like the person who killed 50 at the New Zealand mosque last week. The series recounts the tragic events which led to the entire city being gripped in a wave of fear. On May 22, 1981, Williams had been driving on a bridge over the Chattahoochee River. [1] Although never tried for the additional murders, he is also believed to be responsible for at least 24 of the 30 Atlanta murders of 19791981, also known as the Atlanta Child Murders. . Most of them were boys. President Reagan says the White House will do everything it to can to help, and Vice-President Bush personally visits. The case had been closed after a 23-year-old man named Wayne Williams was linked to the murders without a trial. 1979-1981 22 months. Then the fifth episode proceeds to demolish itat least rhetorically. He said the documentary doesnt in any way solve the murder mystery but presents the various theories and lets viewers decide for themselves. The fourth episode of Atlantas Missing and Murdered reconstructs the prosecutions case, and it comes across as damning. The three-hour ID documentary debuts Saturday at 9 p.m. Over 23 months in 1979 and 1980, at least 29 black children were murdered. He was 23. This is a story Ive wanted to tell for a long time, he said. Till this day, no person has been tried for these murders and the killer has never been confir Read allBetween 1979 and 1981 29 African American children went missing and were found dead in Atlanta. It wasnt a part of the things we talked about. Catherine Leach and Sheila Baltazar remember their sons, Curtis and Patrick, respectively. In April 1981, at roughly.css-16acfp5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#d2232e;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-16acfp5:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:yellow;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;} 2:50 a.m. under Atlanta's James Jackson Parkway bridge where the body of a boy had been found one month prior, an FBI surveillance team heard a loud splash. "[18], Other observers have criticized the thoroughness of the investigation and the validity of its conclusions. Members of his community and several of the victims' parents did not believe that Williams, the son of two professional teachers, could have killed so many. Date: _9/14/20_ Period: The report said the hairs on the bodies contained the same DNA sequence as Williams's dog, a DNA sequence that occurs in about 1 in 100 dogs. Atlanta's Missing And Murdered: The Lost Children isexecutive produced and directed by Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre and Joshua Bennett for Show of Force; produced by Saralena Weinfield for Show of Force; executive produced by Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius and John Legend for Get Lifted Film Co. in association with Roc Nation. See full bio More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Known For Another Level: I Want You for Myself Wayne Williams (1999) It seems driven more by the need to entertain than a desire to get at the truth. In May: William Barrett (17). Atlantas Missing and Murdered does succeed at portraying an important part of the story: how the citys black community experienced that terrifying two-year period, and the role that grassroots organizers played in forcing Atlantas recently integrated police force to take the murders more seriously. The house was almost new when he moved in. The city was up and coming, and we didnt want anything to tarnish that image, she said. In 2018, Williams and the Atlanta Child Murders were the subject of the true crime podcast Atlanta Monster, hosted by Payne Lindsey and co-produced by Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed.Wayne Williams, an Atlanta native who was 23 years old at the time of the last murder, was arrested, tried, and convicted of two of the adult murders and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. [20], On May 6, 2005, DeKalb County Police Chief Louis Graham ordered the reopening of the murder cases of four boys killed in that county between February and May 1981, whose deaths had been attributed to Williams. Despite its dramatic structure, anyone familiar with the Atlanta child murders wont find anything new in Atlantas Missing and Murdered, although it does make for a much better introduction to the case than Atlanta Monster. This is a big fat fail. He said the series will point toward other possible suspects, thanks to an anonymous source who had new evidence connecting members of the KKK to the murders. He has appealed his convictions, but they have been denied several times. ON TV"The Atlanta Child Murders," 9 p.m. Saturdays, ID. The documentary series also points to alternate suspects and details the biases and unexplored leads that may have tainted the original investigation. I guess with no more GOT or Sopranos or they have nothing better to do with their time over there. The bureau assigned more than two dozen agents to the case, including special agent John Douglas. 29-30. Where were most of the bodies dumped? He predicted that the killer (then unknown) would have been over-pampered by his parents. Contact See company contact information Filmmakers See writer See producer Cast See preliminary cast More info Project notes, plot, and industry news To some, Wayne Williams is a convicted murderer linked to the brutal killings of dozens of young, black children in the late 1970s and early 1980s. February: Patrick Baltazar (12) and Curtis Walker (13). John Douglas arrived in Atlanta shortly after, tracing the crime scenes and beginning work on his profile. [40], Williams appears as the main antagonist in several media portrayals of the case. According to an August 2005 report, Charles T. Sanders, a white supremacist affiliated with the KKK and an early suspect in the murders, once praised the crimes in secretly recorded conversations. There were all these questions. Wayne Williams was convicted of the murders of two adults and tied to 10 of the murders in court. Originally posted Thursday, March 21, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio &. It was believed that the serial child murderer had been dumping bodies in the river in a bid to wash up forensic evidence. It's not until the season two finale that Agent Ford realizes Williams has a press credential and was photographing the police searches in areas where bodies had been found. He would occasionally ride along with late night ambulance drivers. Then, officials linked Williams to 22 murders from the case. Days after Williams was sentenced to two life terms, most of the childrens cases were closed and attributed to Williams, without ever going to trial. Wayne Williams stood trial for the slaying of two young African-Americans. [27], Fulton County authorities have not reopened any of the cases under their jurisdiction.[20]. Williams is currently serving out his life sentences at Hancock State Prison. Briefs: 11Alives news director goes to Gray; Honey Boo Boos boyfriend arrested; Marlon WABEs Buried Truths podcast season 4 goes back to a 1958 Georgia cold case, Atlantas Carter Center preps for future without founder, Photography club captures hope during pandemic, March food and drink events to check out in metro Atlanta. After the abduction of a 7-year-old girl in 1980 (the ninth victim), the FBI and the Behavioral Sciences Unit joined the investigation. But the HBO series also succumbs to the imperatives of a plot-twist narrative. <